There can now be no doubt now that Alberto “Gonzo” Gonzales is quite the S.O.B. I NEVER thought that I would see the day when John “Pentacostal and proud of it” Ashcroft would be venerated by the left for his stands. That is how bad things are.

Alberto Gonzales browbeats the critically ill.

It’s hard to take any pleasure from the depiction of government officials in critical condition being manipulated in their hospital beds by soulless White House flunkies. But Senate Democrats are all smiles as former Deputy Attorney General James Comey goes before the Senate judiciary committee this morning. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., can barely stop grinning long enough to ask his next question. Because Alberto Gonzales truly is the gift that keeps on giving. Only a handful of reporters are on hand, at what should have been a rerun of Comey’s devastating House testimony two weeks ago. But we are treated to Grey’s Anatomy meets The West Wing.And maybe that’s why the Democrats finally have reason to grin. They have failed so far to take down Attorney General Alberto Gonzales with tales of the man’s hackery, sycophancy, and boundless apathy. But now we’re being treated to a graphic retelling of the AG’s efforts to browbeat a critically ill man into signing off on the National Security Agency’s illegal surveillance program.

Wait. Now even I’m grinning.

http://www.slate.com/id/2166213/fr/flyout